Guaring Our Hearts for Continual Revival
Steps of a Good Man • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Introduction
Introduction
As children of God, we can and should live under the control of the Holy Spirit and experience a continual reviving in our hearts. Yet, we cannot do this filling and reviving work on our own. There must be a desire to be filled, a confession of sin, and a yielding of oneself to the Holy Spirit’s control. This is simple process will result in the power of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives to give us ongoing spiritual victory.
The might Amazon River is four thousand miles long. It is a powerful body of water flowing into the Atlantic. This powerful mess of water begins as a mere trickle from an Andes glacier, and as the Amazon winds across the torrid wilderness, hundreds of tributaries pour their waters into it, causing the Amazon to carry more water then any other river in the world. So great is the Amazon’s power that even when it reaches the Atlantic, the Amazon refuses to die. It floods the ocean with its muddy waters for up to one hundred miles off shore. This amazing river begins with a mere trickle and ends over ninety -miles wide. What and amazing transformation! What makes the Amazon so great and powerful? It is the tributaries that pour their waters into the river, filling and overflowing it.
What can make a seemingly small and insignificant child of God become so strong, full, and overflowing in his Christian? It is simply the controlling of God - the filling of the Holy Spirit in his life.
God desires to work mightily in and through us, by His Holy Spirit and through the work of revival. The subject of revival is very near and dear to the heart of God and to those who truly walk with Him
Wilt thou not revive us again: That thy people may rejoice in thee?
As we saw in our last study, the word revive means “to live again” (new life). God’s desire and plan is for every believer to be continually filled by the Holy Spirit of God and nor to walk in the flesh.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
As children of God, we can and should live under the control of the Holy Spirit and experience a continual reviving in our hearts. Yet, we cannot do this filling and reviving work on our own. There must be a desire to be filled, a confession of sin, and a yielding to oneself to the Holy Spirit’s control. This simple process will result in the power of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives to give us ongoing victory over the world, flesh, and the devil.
Like tributaries flowing into the Amazon, it is God the Holy Spirit who fills us and takes control. It is God who can and will revive us to enjoy the Christian life to its fullest.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Perhaps you have never received the life of which John 10 speaks. Maybe you have tired religion, works, self-improvement, or manmade plan of salvation. None of these will give spiritual life.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
This phrase simply means “to be made alive.” In John, Jesus said that He is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
You must see yourself as a sinner and recognize that your sin condemns you to separation from God in a place called Hell. You must first turn to Christ! Abandon all else. Totally trust in Jesus Christ as payment for your sins. Receive Him as your Saviour.
Once you receive Christ, you have received life and are eternally secure in Him. Yet many who have this life are far from enjoying the fullness of life that Jesus gives. They have settled for hamburgers when they could be enjoying steak!
Some men settle in for the long haul and determine not to be surrendered. These men want to remain unchanged (a trickle), not willing to empty themselves of the weight and sin in their lives which hinder the tributaries of God’s almighty power and presence from flowing through them.
If you desire to be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit and will allow the Lord to give you a fresh reviving, here are five steps you can take which will allow you to keep - guard - the work of God in your life and enjoy continual revival.
Keep Yourself for the Accursed Thing
Keep Yourself for the Accursed Thing
In Joshua 6, Israel had just entered the Promised Land and faced the stronghold of Jericho. God gave Joshua a plan to defeat Jericho, and a great victory took place. Joshua warned all of the people not to take anything out of Jericho.
And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
One man, Achan, disobeyed, and his sin brought defeat in the next battle at Ai. When Achan’s sin was discovered and he was confronted, his explanation was, “I saw, I coveted, and I took.”
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
Thirty-six men died as a result of his sin! Your sin affects others. Even one seemingly small sin can rob us of victory and cause defeat.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
The Christian man who truly wants to be a godly man must guard himself from the thing.
Time-lapse photography compresses a series of events into one picture. Such a photo appeared in an issue of National Geographic. Taken form a Rocky Mountain peak during a heavy thunderstorm, the picture captured the brilliant lightning display that had taken place throughout the storm’s duration. The time-lapse technique created a fascinating, spaghetti-like web out of the individual bolts.
In such a way, our sin presents itself before the eyes of God. Where we see only isolated or individual acts, God sees the overall web of our sinning. What may seem insignificant - even sporadic - to us and passes with hardly a notice creates a much more dramatic display from God panoramic viewpoint. The psalmist was right when he wrote, “who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.” (Psalm 19:12-13).
Every man knows where his greatest struggles and temptations lie.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
By God’s power, you can say no to sin (sin is a choice) and keep yourself from “the accursed thing.” When you do sin, confess it.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Keep Yourself from Idols
Keep Yourself from Idols